Was it Good? - Dragon Age: Origins

[@Shelby_Arr]

Just as an FYI, the version of the game on GOG is now part of their games preservation program, and comes pre-patched and with core affinities set to maximize compatibility.

[@hariman7727]

OOH! It's not just whole, but also cheaper than Steam!

[@James-u1y]

Hope more people like this comment!

[@eranoszrill8907]

i had the urge to play this game but didn't cus i didn't want to mess around with patching, thank you so much for this info!

[@austinmontenegro976]

GOG is FTW TO

[@Nathlaaar]

W GOG

[@itsSparkky]

I worked on the keep and was the poor guy who had to sort through the flags and write code to solve it. You cant even fathom the depths of hell I had to plumb for narrative branches like the dwarf diplomacy. I will admit there is a huge catharsis to seeing you rant about it occasionally… its been like 10 years and Ive launched several games since then, but I think the world state solver for the Keep was still probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done and probably the thing Im most proud of.

[@itsSparkky]

Also the landsmeet can go soooo many different ways lol. There is actually a lot you have to do throughout the game to prepare characters to choose options. In this play-through you never hardened Alistair by forcing him to accept his heritage and learn to accept who he is. If he grows that way much of his dialogue changes, he’s still quippy but not quite as childish. He will actually just take the throne; he can also take Anora as his queen, which they are happy with. You could even have Alistair on the throne, Anora as the queen, and your character as Alistairs lover. Its a pretty wicked web of choices.

[@viktorsolovyov5067]

I worked in game-dev. Honestly what you guys did with DA Origins is amazing!

[@vanyadolly]

Thank you for your service! The Keep seemed like such a hassle that it's even more frustrating they only ended up using it for one game. At least it's still a handy tool for keeping track of different world states.

[@jainadreamer]

This is what I wish more people understood. They lament the loss of Keep and lack of consequences from previous games, but they don't get just how much work goes into all of that.

[@pRaX85815]

@@jainadreamer So, because it's alot of work, no one can lament their absence and expect better? I wish more people would understand that this is the kind of rhetoric that makes gamers hate the industry. "Oh woe is me, who is expected to do alot of work and make a decent game instead of slop or a minimally viable product that people pay good money for and want to enjoy."

[@peleus7657]

ENCHANTMENT? ENCHANTMENT!!!

[@ZijnShayatanica]

ENCHAAAAANTMENT!

[@razielgrave224]

Boom!

[@otacon6566]

Elllooooo......

[@preng2355]

when he standing still on pile of dead darkspawn and shout ENCHANTMENT?!

[@resid3nt3v1l]

That end game enconter is peak all the dead darkspawn enchantment

[@JoshSweetvale]

They made the Dragon Age dwarves unique by giving them 1:American-accents and 2: an Indian Caste system

[@seeinred]

That checks out

[@starzstorz9477]

XD

[@GeorgeMonet]

India was hardly the first nation to have a caste system.

[@JoshSweetvale]

@@GeorgeMonet It's the last one in the modern era, and their specific caste system strongly resembles what Orzammar uses.

[@danieltilson4053]

Fun fact: if you report the Bloodmage in the Origin, you still follow the quest line as if you didn't, but the headmaster will give you advice, help you out, and stand up to the templars on your behalf (though it doesn't change anything there.)

[@Lady_Violet22]

Fun Fact! The specialisation "bug", isn't really a bug. It's a feature poorly implemented into the game. When you unlock a specialisation you are rewarded with an achievement for doing so, and that acheivement then unlocks it permanently for all playthroughs on that game data. This was done to emulate Mass Effect's weapon and power achievements, allowing you to select a bonus weapon or power training that your class wouldn't normally have access to, during the final step of character creation. This not only promoted its replayability even higher than first anticipated, but also allowed some mix'n'match style playthroughs, such as an Adept having assault rifle training, or a Soldier using the singularity power. Dragon Age: Origins chose to do the same with their specialisations, also as a method of promoting replayability so you wouldn't be required to make certain choices to unlock certain specialisations on future playthroughs. For example, the only method I'm aware of to unlock the Blood Mage specialisation is during the Redcliffe story; entering the fade with a mage warden and making a deal with the demon to teach you blood magic. Once that's done, you don't need to do this choice again to use that specialisation in future, should you wish to use those powers without having to choose that very specific ending for the Redcliffe questline. Unfortunately, this being a more traditional RPG compared to Mass Effect, it's implementation was rather poor. The fact it is very easily exploitable through save-scumming your way into unlocking it with zero consequences, is what lead many to believe this was a bug when it is, in fact, a feature.

[@KasumiRINA]

For Mass Effect BTW, you need 2 playthroughs as same character to get the level 60 achievement, and even then you don't get enough bonuses to get to 60 in one run. But save scumming bonus SKILLS is even easier, so when starting Legendary with clean save I just did a save on first non-drone geth encounter as soldiers, and got all weapons unlocked for other classes. Do the same as Adept and Engineer and you get all skills.

[@wingthomaux]

The implementation is just fine. If people want to exploit the system, they can and will always do..

[@notaprinny]

You can actually buy (iirc) ALL of the specialization books in the Awakening DLC. They cost 10 gold each iirc, it's been a while. Ofc the price doesn't matter as long as you can afford one... Just buy and reload.

[@Lady_Violet22]

@@wingthomaux By "poor implementation", I meant more that this was something you could exploit far too easily, compared to Mass Effect. There you're required to perform a certain number of kills with each weapon and use each power a certain number of times to unlock their respective achievements. This required, bare minimum, two playthroughs to unlock all them all. Whereas in Origins, you could quite easily hoover up every single specialisation in a single playthrough. It's not badly done, in fact it's quite a well-meaning feature. The issue is that a more traditional RPG, like Dragon Age: Origins, can bypass any consequences and time-investment to aquire these specialisations, unfortunately.

[@Lady_Violet22]

@@notaprinny Ah, I did not know that, it's been a long time since I've played Awakening. Thank you for informing me. So there you go, even more ways to just completely break the requirements for unlocking the class specialisations. It's a good feature, honestly, it's just broken far, far too easily.

[@datemasamune2904]

Furiously commands warden. "Would you like a ladder, to get off my back?"

[@thomasjoychild4962]

Turned into an easer egg in Inquisition.

[@99veruca]

Can I get you a ladder? So you can get off my back!*

[@andybanan1992]

2:30 this is rumored to be the reason Larian studios is stepping away from making more baldurs gate or DnD related games aswell, some supposed leaks from devs have stated that after the success of BG3, WOTC apparently wanted a much much more hands on involvement in any future project, and larian felt like they would loose all creative rights to WOTC and thus could not make the games as they wanted them to be

[@mrfreeman2911]

tbh larian are kind of losing their touch and BG3 has some issues. Characters for one are weaker than BG1 &2, DOS 1 & 2. DA:O etc. I worry for the studio and have a suspicion it is downhill.

[@nin2494]

​@mrfreeman2911 "losing their touch" *proceeds to cite the most popular, best-selling, critically and casually acclaimed game the studio has ever released, with characters so elevated and loved that their voice actors can play a D&D campaign with them and receive much attention and praise that circles back into in-game lore, several good moves post-launch including free patches that change the game in almost universally liked ways* I don't think this point has much to stand on. The game is a success in every metric that matters, including both CRPG players and new player enjoyment, with flaws usually leaning towards the beginner learning curve as most CRPGs typically have. That's not downhill, now compared to Dragon Age Veilguard's above average but not quite excellent (according to audience reviews) reception, it's a gap that would make the accusation much more appropriate for Bioware, as some other comments in this video's comment section agree

[@andybanan1992]

@nin2494 yea, had much the same idea.honestly i didnt even think the comment merited a reaponse.

[@theperfectbeing]

@@mrfreeman2911 Agreed about the characters honestly, everyone rambles on about how much they love Astarion or Karlach and all I can think about is "These characters are alright but they pale in comparison to Irenicus from BG2". I honestly enjoyed the characters from Divinity 2 more than BG3 but BG3 is just a vastly more complex and fleshed out game.

[@mrfreeman2911]

@@theperfectbeing thank you!!!! An actual person who understands my criticism.

[@DarkRonnie]

YOU did not end up making use of the combined magic system, me and my friends sure as hell used it, it was freaking awesome, and to my knowledge the first time an rpg allowed for such logical and awesome power!!! i have always loved magic, and this was my moment to shine X) other then that great video as always Josh :)

[@PrincessStabbityPLS]

Same! And the spell combos could do some ridiculous things. The first time I managed to activate Storm of the Century, it wiped out everything on the map... including my own party XD So I immediately found use for the Stasis spell, to make my party immune to the absolute Armageddon me and Morrigan unleashed together, just long enough for the Storm to pass. Blood Magic offered some incredible opportunities too, thanks to all the crowd control it offered. Being able to hold all the enemies still while you casually laid down Glyph combos, or turning one of the enemies against the rest, really made me feel in control of the battlefield. And was a pretty convincing way to demonstrate just why blood magic was so feared in the lore. It was a really fun and tactical magic system that doesn't fully explain itself at first... but does give you enough hints to encourage experimentation and isn't afraid to reward you for it. I'm so sad that we have lost ALL of that complexity over time. Barely any traces of it were left in Inquisition ._.

[@Zinlain]

I think my favorite part about Origins is just how overpowered Mages can be... because it *FITS* the narrative and allows you to see first hand EXACTLY why people want mages locked away . Tevinter Mages used to steamroll and enslave every other culture until The Chantry became a thing made use of the Templars to drive them out. Like sure Mages should *NOT* be oppressed/abused/etc but to pretend they arent potential bombs(even if they dont want to hurt anyone) is foolish and canonically often lead to tragedy in families that dont give up their mage-kids to the Cirlces.

[@g.m.fernandes3579]

Which is also part of the reason that he felt the game was so hard. The game was created with the intention of using these things, it's like playing Divinity and not using fire to set oil on fire, or Ice arrows/spells to freeze enemies when it's raining. My favorite combo was the sleep + nightmare (don't know If I remember the name of the spells correctly), but it was essentially: put everybody to sleep, throw everybody into a nightmare. Massive crowd control.

[@Nasgatemk2]

​@@g.m.fernandes3579Factually incorrect. If spell combinations were intended as part of the games difficulty then a mage would've been a mandatory party member. Also he didn't find combat overly difficult, simply tedious(which it undeniably is). The man has things to do with his time.

[@Warlord4Hikage]

Removing weapon to cast spell annoying AF

[@Harl3inger]

Calling the prison break boring was so sad. Getting your companions to rescue you is the funniest section of the game. I legit think I spent hours trying all the combinations of companions because it was so funny to see how far they would get “sneaking” in.

[@99veruca]

It's so good. Zevran and Oghren as the Broma Brothers circus performer. Iirc Dog can pass nearly every check points:)

[@Hurbster2112]

I'm a bit rusty but I believe that Leliana and Morrigan sounded disappointed when they didn't get to act out their plan. It's been a few years.

[@ghostparty2062]

Yeh. You get the option to break out in a variety of ways. Or send in companions who'll have different dialogue depending on you choose. Its awsome and adds to the replayability

[@themightymcb7310]

​@@Hurbster2112if you let leliana take the lead then it works, but if you let morrigan talk then everyone knows she isn't a priest

[@Johnwhyplays]

"I'm the pretty one."

[@baddragonite]

I love that the Canon name for the dog is "Barkspawn" a name Allistair came up with.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Penny Arcade

[@DracoSuave]

@@baddragonite or Not Mangy

[@ChimeraMerah]

It's actually not canon! There's not a canon name at all. The closest thing to a "canon" name is Rabbit, which is what the dog was referred to internally during development. Barkspawn is just what Alistair calls Dog in an AU DLC, Darkspawn Chronicles. (And is actually, I believe, a reference to a Penny Arcade comic from DA:O's release year.)

[@DarkLordReturned]

​@@ChimeraMerah I remember the phone game, and Barkspawn was the name given in that. As the phone game was official, while the gameplay was not great, the stories were, at the time not sure after bioware's sickening, cannon. And also the name. Think of it less as the "official" name and just the default one given if your character didn't name him.

[@TimothyPatrickJr-u4b]

When I named my hound, I just gave it a typical dog name like "Max" or "fang" or "wolverine" or "bones"

[@CaptainRed1000]

I'd like to reference a single line of dialogue from Sten that sums up his character and makes him worth keeping in the party. *Sten:* Interesting strategy. Tell me: Do you intend to keep going north until it becomes south, and attack the Archdemon from the rear? *Warden:* It'll never see this coming. *Sten Approves*

[@joelcano997]

Had to be there i guess

[@asherking159]

Seeing some Sten love, want to point out one of the only codex entries I read in my limited time playing Veilguard was about the current Qunari Arishok that was overthrown in the coup by the Antaam, an unnamed Arishok that just so happens to have been a "veteran in the 5th Blight" There was only one Qunari fighting in the 5th Blight as far as I'm aware... (after reading into it more to fact check apparently Sten being Arishok has been known for a while now as part of Bioware's canon, but still I found it to be a cool nod. Unfortunate that Veilguard wasnt able to use any of this in any meaningful way since Sten being alive at all is dependent on player choices that the game ignored)

[@EloahAloha]

​@@asherking159 Why didn't Bioware make a game magnitudes this size to account for every single player's choice and its combination? A part of me wonders how a cheaper and more intricately developed narrative that accounts for all possibilities would have fared on the market, but I suspect it would have been panned for not being a AAA title from a AAA studio or the low risk and low return would see them close shop. In all honesty, I get their approach. It's why the cataclysm in Veilguard will *fingers crossed* prove essential - it will refresh the world in a new state that will permit choices to ripple like before. After three games of choices, it becomes VERY difficult to account for everyone's world states and the countless choices contained therein. Game development is hard work on many dimensions.

[@asherking159]

@@EloahAloha yeah I mean that's a logical argument, but there is a game dev in this very comment section who worked on the keep saying it would be difficult to account for the different choices, but not *that* difficult, so I think "magnitudes the size" is a little exaggerated. I'll trust their word for it. Regardless of the whole choice argument, I went into veilguard with an open mind, didn't trust all the negative review grifters cause I usually dont agree with them, put 40 hours of my own time into the game, and came out with the opinion that it is watered down triple A slop made for mass market appeal, chasing game trends from 2018. I can elaborate in more detail if anyone cares to know my thoughts, but I doubt it haha

[@asherking159]

@@EloahAloha yeah I mean that's a logical argument, but there is a game dev in this very comment section who worked on the keep saying it would be difficult to account for the different choices, but not *that* difficult, so I think "magnitudes the size" is a little exaggerated. I'll trust their word for it. Regardless of the whole choice argument, I went into veilguard with an open mind, didn't trust all the negative review grifters cause I usually dont agree with them, put 40 hours of my own time into the game, and came out with the opinion that it is watered down triple A slop made for mass market appeal, chasing game trends from 2018. I can elaborate in more detail if anyone cares to know my thoughts, but I doubt it haha

[@leonardobattistel4595]

3:30 correction: Awakening is NOT a prequel, it's an expansion set AFTER the main story in Origins and it should be played after it. Most likely an error in writing and/or reading the script, wrote this just to avoid confusion in case someone got interested in the game through the video.

[@MishraArtificer]

Yeah, Leliana's Song is a prequel. He might've gotten bits of the two mixed up. (Happens to the best of us!)

[@ravenvixen7903]

Ah! Yes! I had that immediate thought too, but I'm sure that correction will be in the video about the DLCs. Which Josh had better do xD

[@termnus77]

Its a shame he didn't touch on the DLC stories within Origins, such as Wardens Keep or Stone Prisoner. Awakening, Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt were a nice set of smaller stories and he could avenge the loss of his armour set to Morrigan. Hope he covers them at some stage

[@ravenvixen7903]

@@termnus77 he did say that the dlcs are a whole other video, so I've got my fingers crossed he does make that video too

[@mattandrews2594]

@@termnus77 That Golem DLC was I believe one of the very first DLCs to be advertised in-game, anywhere in gaming. And that shouldn't be a cause for celebration, cause it was scummy as hell.

[@michaelcalvin42]

30:09 - Back when this game came out, I remember being really impressed by the fact that your characters got covered in blood during battle. This was a pretty rare effect in video games at the time, and it was quite cool.

[@Shmandalf]

Yeah it was actually a selling point back then. Even the loading screens had a blood-like effect going on. Apparently in Veilguard, there isn't even blood at all? This franchise is so aimless it boggles my mind lol

[@MishraArtificer]

Even more fun: if you have the Dog in the party when this happens, you can start a conversation with the Dog, and ask them to lick the blood off...and they will!

[@tyrus1235]

@@Shmandalf Veilguard *has* blood. But it's that usual "spurt" you see from most games. No blood splashes, no one gets covered in blood and no blood pools.

[@Aiveq]

pretty sure city elf origin has guard recognize blood on your clothes and attack you cuz of it. change clothes and he lets you through

[@caroline7973]

I just finished origins for the first time and I when I started a month ago I was also impressed by that! I thought it was part of the city elf origin and would stop being a feature after the opening haha

[@Uberphish]

Fun fact about this franchise's world being called Thedas. THE Dragon Age Setting.

[@CrimsonTentacle]

I think I read one of the devs debunking that, but I cant find a source now, and so I chose to believe its true just because its funny x)

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Did you know that when Aragorn kicks the orc helmet in The Two Towers that it was a real scream of pain because he broke his toe?

[@NerdHerdForLife]

Weather it's true or not, it's still funny just because it works so well.

[@maraxussrafhael]

Source ?

[@mikeuniturtle3722]

Thedas is the continent, like how Middle Earth on Lord of the Rings is only 1 part of the greater world.

[@Dart572]

It's amazing how you managed to pick the worst class (In my opinion) to have your Warden be, you alienated or killed half your party, AND despite having all the DLC, you didn't go get Shale. Made Alistair the king, then IMMEDIATELY got him killed, so they just have to pick a new king. What did the world of Thedas ever do to you, man?

[@soniablanche5672]

last time I've played DAO, I've picked mage. My primary team was 3 mages + liliana. (I play on nightmare difficulty ofc)

[@Andyground11]

This comment is all I needed!!!! xD

[@ChaosChanneler]

Hey it’s in the game so it’s what the developers wanted you to experience. It’s an awful ending but it’s also funny. Like bringing the werewolves and golems into the final fight ❤😂

[@soniablanche5672]

@@ChaosChanneler that's what RPGs should be, they should let you have the worst possible endings.

[@SolStone]

"Solace hates slavery."

[@katpocalypsemeow4554]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the spell combo system. That was such a cool thing back in the day and something I really missed in the sequels. Being able to put someone to sleep and then cast fear on them to give them mind shredding nightmares or combining all three top level elemental spells to create the ultimate wrath of nature was always so fun. And using these combos effectively could be the difference between life and death.

[@KasumiRINA]

Sequels all have spell combos, even 2 did... they just... make everything explode in Veilguard. It's the same thing with Mass Effect 1's lift-throw, ME2's cryo-throw or pull-warp, and ME3 having much more combos at expense of everything now just being explosion in chosen color... it was still cathartic, my fav was throwing inferno grenades then a biotic throw got turned into fireball that gibbed everything... in latest Dragon Age you actually have combos listed right in the menu where you select powers.

[@privateruffles]

I'm not sure he knows about the spell combo system. He spends a lot of time talking about how useful fireball is to knock people down but never once mentions the incredible AOE paralyze spell combo.

[@JewTube001]

@@KasumiRINA yeah the combos became "do more damage to kill them faster". they stopped having cool effects and just did loads of dmg instead

[@lorenzmanalastas4839]

He mentions it during the Ostagar Tower quest, then dismisses it immediately, saying grease fire is hardly useful. It's honestly baffling.

[@Sanvone]

@@lorenzmanalastas4839 If he started with Grease Fire then it's not weird that he thought them useless. It's like one of the worst spell combos often less impactful than using different spell alltogether. Grease Fire dmg is low and doesn't scale with Spellpower.

[@vanyadolly]

What I love so much about the game is that you can put 60+ hours into it and still miss out on so much of the complexity of the story and characters. Like Morrigan coming to realize the 'survival of the fittest' way Flemeth has raised her is flawed and unfulfilling, that Loghain has noble intentions if not methods and withdrawing at Ostagar possibly was the right choice, that the lying pos Bhelen is actually the better choice for the dwarves, that you have to secure the Queen's support if you want it, and the Wardens staging a coup d'etat is why they were banished from Ferelden in the first place. The landsmeet only ends in a brawl if you lose the vote. In terms of the combat on higher difficulties, the enemy resistances does determine which abilities are most effective against them, but the difficulty isn't so punishing that it requires cheesing. You can still experiment with all the tools and specs at your disposal because they're all viable. Even traps! But yes, the game expects you to control several party members and if you don't, that's what the easy difficulty is for. I'd also say the companion quests and romances are supposed to provide character development and world building towards the end of the game, but of course you have to actually spend time with them to uncover that content. Especially Alistair and Morrigan's romances tie into the main plot. Who could forget Warden Riordan and his rhyming name? 😄Best Warden ever. I also enjoy the fade and the deep roads, but maybe that's just me.

[@IcepickEvans]

I too enjoy fade and deep roads. And I agree spending time conversing with companions is a must. So much of my love for this game is how well they're fleshed out. Especially Alastair. How could I ever put him on the throne?

[@birb1gaming]

I really don't like deep roads and fade AND the temple for andraste's ashes in haven, but it is because they are too long in my opinion. Go there, kill this, then return and kill that... It feels like work. Maybe that is why I loved Inquisition's combat and dungeons a lot more because they were not very long but plenty. It felt like i did accomplish that goal. But no other game can beat the RPG experience in this game + the conbat is actually fun but crunky so it is frustrating sometimes. I love the world of Dragon Age and I am so happy that I started the game from the beginning.

[@Nerathul1]

You can get a funny line if at the Landsmeet you try to get the Dog to duel Loghain

[@federicorobelo8544]

I remember doing this my first playthrough. My dog would have totally owned Loghain.

[@PedricCuf]

As much as I've played DA:O, I never came across this. Thank you for sharing. (Happy Bark!)

[@NESSTOR94]

😆

[@ferrante2752]

As someone who has played this game since childhood, as every class and race, I was shocked to hear you talk about difficulty. There's hard parts, but even on my first playthrough I cranked it to Nightmare since every fight always felt super easy EXCEPT the drawf bandit leader in lowtown. Especially as an arcane warrior, that build is by far the strongest in the game.

[@rayxr]

He's putting heavy armor on his mages. That should tell you all you need to know.

[@ferrante2752]

@rayxr Normally I'd agree, but since all his mages were Arcane Warriors by the look of things, heavy armor isn't egregious imo. When I ran my Blood Mage Arcane Warrior I think I ran with Wade's heavy armor as was acting as a Sword/Shield tank+massive dps

[@Paladin0005]

I did an arcane warrior run on nightmare back in the day and (outside of one sequence where I didn't know you were supposed to lose) I never thought the combat was unfairly difficult. I do like to min/max though so that probably helped.

[@volourn9764]

"I've played the game 547 times. I found it easy... why can't others?" Lmao And, no, I don't find it super hard, but you sound ridiculous.

[@ferrante2752]

@volourn9764 Completely disregarding the whole "on my first playthrough I bumped it up to Nightmare part". People can find things difficult, there are some difficulty spikes, but the "this game is always insanely hard" idea he is trying to claim would be the first time I've heard anyone say that about this game. My comment wasn't just my experience, rather the combined of myself and those I know who have played. Sorry you couldn't grasp that🤷‍♂️

[@hudabigbadwolf2]

I'm surprised you didn't mention anything about hardening Alistair or Leliana, which dramatically changes their character arcs

[@BarokaiRein]

I like my Alistair nice and hard.

[@ConsueloWubba]

Harden Alistair yes. But not Leliana. She is best as wholesome.

[@deceptiwave2936]

I think because he didn't do it lol. Never invests in companions as far as I've seen from his videos.

[@LostClover_]

@@ConsueloWubba I actually prefer hardening her because she starts Inquisition being hardened no matter what.

[@waaromn]

Because he didn't do it, there are several signs and hints that he didn't fully engage with the game. He has the landsmeet turn into a slaughter for example, and apparently doesnt know you can actually win the votes against Loghain and have it come down to a duel without a slaughter.

[@zac-w5d]

The golem party member you get from the DLC is really good and has some of the best one liners

[@maxhax367]

Ahh yes Shale and her dislike for anything with feathers

[@JoshSweetvale]

Shale glories in being a functionally unkillable hunk of stone. Until... _well._

[@earmite100]

Oh yeah, I forgot that was a DLC thing

[@mattandrews2594]

I hated Bioware for that DLC. They were one of the first companies ever to advertise their own DLC in-game. Scummy behaviour then and now.

[@hariman7727]

Eh. I found Shale to be annoying.

[@B1gBut]

1:45:30 I think you're missing the point. origins isn't about gathering an army and killing the big dragon in an epic fight. it's about the world you leave behind after it. the decisions throughout the game and the "petty squabbling" of the last act are the important part. the end encounter is just an inevitability. the game wants you to ask whether the world is even worth saving and if it is, how would you (at least try to) impact it. maybe that's just my understanding but to me, the game was never about gathering loot and power and fighting great battles.

[@qa6362]

I completely agree, the opener pits you with this very character in king Cailin who dies by blindly following the ideas of fighting glorious battles for the honour of the realm. Its not battles that are important in this story. DAO is a game about people and morality. not shiny armour and dragons.

[@jonclark1405]

Adding on to this, I think much of the driving motivation behind the final act is finally getting back at Loghain. For me at least, I almost cared more about finally getting to kill him than anything else in the game. And even if you spare his life, you can make it abundantly clear that you're forcing him to become a Warden in order to punish him. The game wants you to hate Loghain, and it seems like that motivation just didn't work for Josh. Also, Riordan slaps. I will not stand for Josh's slander against my Orlesian king.

[@fanaferrari1]

"If everyone just worked together for one damn second we could face the world ending threat" Yeah no shit, come on man, it's like the whole point of the game.

[@B1gBut]

@@fanaferrari1 well its notable that the game doesn't end with the battle, it ends by describing the world after it and what happened to major characters. but i do think a good rpg, even if it can't provide divergent experiences, should be deep enough to allow for different interpretations and perspectives. so i guess that's why people have different ideas on what the game is about.

[@Nasgatemk2]

The game is absolutely about both these things. By denying one facet you are ignoring the time and work the devs put in.

[@prestonbarfield8464]

2:04:07 I was going to let it go, but the way he talks about it here annoys me. It's almost disingenuous. This game is punishing. This game has some hard fights. That being said, there isn't a single fight you "need" to cheese if you're adequately prepared. Even on nightmare. With the right tactics set for companions, gear, positioning every fight can be simple. You just have to take the time to analyze and adjust your approach. If you do all of the content, this game can even be too easy - and I get the impression a lot of stuff was skipped for the sake of completing this playthrough. Sten's not even wearing clothing in the final fight for Maker's sake. I wouldn't be surprised if gear wasn't getting upgraded, tactics weren't getting set, and resistances and items weren't being utilized. The number of times "cheesing things" is mentioned isn't nearly as baffling once you notice every single mage in the party is wearing full plate and using a melee weapon. It's fine to have a preference for the arcane warrior class. But every single mage in the group? How is it not obvious that it's going to have drawbacks? Every fight that was on screen during the difficulty-related rants are ones that require decent ranged damage, and crowd control. Arcane Warriors are great 1v1, but a dedicated Spellcaster is the most important part of any party in Dragon Age games. It's baked into the lore. If you're considering getting this game - stick to the character's assigned archetypes and this game will be a breeze. Bring a Warrior, Rogue, and Wizard every time - try to have a healer. You'll have a great time that won't be nearly as frustrating as this run.

[@theperfectbeing]

Some of those ambush fights he died in, you can just aoe heal and run away after casting storm/blizzard spells and the enemies will die trying to get to you, works in all other fights too especially ones where there's a bottleneck.

[@boonsaplenty3924]

Yeah it was honestly a little surprising how difficult he found the game considering his background with similar RPGs! It's not a particularly unfair game in the slightest, just requires some light strategizing. Like the cheese methods mentioned are a niche tactic, not the intended design at all ll

[@FilthyNobeard]

Yeah, seriously. The review is so off base it's making me wonder about the validity of his previous work. He's constantly mischaracterizing motivations, moments, or mechanics. The idea that most of the mages spell are unusable on hard difficulties (spoken when he's playing on normal) is absurd. I play on at least Hard and practically every spell you can get is useful and fun.

[@Peptuck]

One interesting bit that Josh left out was that your choices actually impact the armies you have access to at the final battle. You can choose to completely slaughter the mages at the mage tower, and get Templars instead of mages for the final battle. You can choose to side with the werewolves and slaughter the Dalish elves completely and thus get a werewolf army instead. You always have access to the human and dwarven troops and potentially the golems. Another thing that Josh seems to have missed was that the jailbreak scene at the third act seems so dull because he chose to obvious and boring route of escaping himself. If Alistair is in your party he will be captured alongside you and enables you to get more aggressive while escaping. You can also choose to be rescued by your party, and can pick any two members of your party to try to save you, and every combination has its own unique scene and dialogue!

[@JoelFeila]

yeah it always bummed me out that the "evil choice" gets you werewolves

[@viktorsolovyov5067]

On my first playthrough the part when you rescue the queen, was the first really tough fight in the game. And I was motivated to win it. So for a long time I didn't even know there was a prision section in the game

[@mupsoftaren]

@@viktorsolovyov5067 Finished the game a handful of times without ever getting the prison escape sequence until I stumbled upon it on youtube by accident.

[@vanyadolly]

@@JoelFeila It isn't more evil than helping the Dalish kill all the werewolves.

[@fatty1040]

​@@JoelFeila Ehhh That wasnt really evil at all, they both messed up their clans and both hunted each other. There is a peaceful way to end it but morality isnt something either side could claim having both been doing evil.

[@Th1sUsernameIsNotTaken]

Bhelen is actually better than Harrowmont, even though he's obviously the larger PoS. if Harrow wins he cuts off trade and contact with the surface, which stifles their economy down there, on top of becomes super defensive, as they lose more and more territory to the darkspawn, slowly being pushed back and overwhelmed by them. If Bhelen wins, he actively does something about the Castless to make them useful, he makes trade even stronger with Surface, and actively takes the fight to the darkspawn, RECLAIMING previously overrun areas for the Dwarves again. It's one of the things that makes the story so great. You want to do everything to NOT put Bhelen on the throne, yet he is the better choice for the Dwarves to thrive. You WANT to put Harrowmont on the throne, yet he becomes the demise of the Dwarves if you do. Also side bar, but composition of your party REALLY matters in the fights. part of the reason you're struggling so much even on lower difficulty is because of 2-3 mages in you group at any time. For quite awhile it was 3 mages and a rogue. A warrior is basically mandatory, if not 2.

[@Blisterdude123]

The Orzammar politics arc is one of my peak DA moments. Really drove home that just because someone is a nice guy, and 'seem' like the 'good choice', it doesn't always mean life works out that way in the long term.

[@seleckcka7104]

While I like that aspect about DA O overall I think this particular one kind of falls flat for me. It seems to me like the only reason why things improve under Bhelen is because they wanted to make the choice more ambiguous but realistically why would putting what amounts to a dictator on the throne improve anything? Historically dictators are almost always preoccupied with maintaining and expanding their power rather than improving society. In addition dictatorships tend to breed massive corruption which usually just weakens the military. They fail to show why Bhelen would be able to improve things and most of his supporters give off the impression that they would gladly screw over the dwarfs overall as long as they personally would benefit from it. It just kind of comes out of left field that this works out for some reason.

[@Th1sUsernameIsNotTaken]

@@seleckcka7104, Been a minute since I played, but I'm almost certain you can find notes/talk to people that explain it. Doesn't seem out of left field at all

[@Blisterdude123]

@@seleckcka7104 I don't really agree, if you're a student of history it makes quite a bit of sense. After all, one voice, with one rule, pulling a state in one direction is far more efficient than many voices, arguing, with too many rules, pulling in different directions. A tyranny is perhaps not a nice thing to live under, but a tyrant with the power and the will to govern has historically produced some of the more 'stable' civilisations. The issue is when the tyrant ISN'T powerful enough to control the state. That's when you get all that corruption, factionalism, civil wars and coups. Democracy is more ideal in terms of affording us rights and liberties, but it is far from a particularly efficient political system. Corruption is far more likely to fester and thrive in a world like ours, unfortunately. In short, I would argue that no, Bhelen's one-man tyranny being the more successful long-term choice isn't out of left field at all. It makes all the sense in the world, when you look at the state of dwarven politics before he takes over.

[@LilFeralGangrel]

I did a playthrough as a dwarf warden that concluded that her brother was the best choice. A better choice than even-she. And this was a character that I role-played as only wanting what's best for her people. Harrowmont was very baffled by my decision.

[@amharbinger]

As long as you give enough gifts, your party will forget that you did everything they disagree with.

[@jimijenkins2548]

Except pranking Loghain.

[@legndofphoenix]

This is how I keep Zevran around even when I play a rogue

[@heronoverdose]

I love the scene with the blood magic when they all just drop down, shows the power in such a unique unsettling way.

[@arashimiyazawa8165]

I love that your Gray Warden appears to be infested with fleas in every cut scene. Stone skin or some other buff, I'm sure, but the black flecks just leaping off her body is hilarious.

[@Hydelix]

Can't wait to see if Josh has mastered the taint.

[@Rorshacked]

Josh Strife Taints

[@Snappybiscuits]

With the help of enchantments 😅

[@austinhan6998]

I'm not surprised yet still overjoyed this comments is at the top of the page.

[@dukeofgotham4311]

ENCHANMENT?… ENCHANMENT!

[@RedSunUnderParadise]

I wanna feed josh my Taint like a darkspawn would.

[@RiipperRiipperson]

I've always played the game on Nightmare, yet I didn't know you're able to pull single enemies from afar. Winning battles is not just about abusing the mechanics!

[@Jase_LV]

You I kind of didn't get him struggling there. Played on hard and the disabling spell/skill is part of the strategy not just some kind of cheese. The fact that he didn't understand combat until the end, is strange.

[@greyomen]

Josh: The combat is too hard! Joshes party: Three battlemages and Alistair. Buddy.... it isn't the game that's hard, it's how you're playing it.

[@pelgrin21]

That is one feature I like about DOA combat tactics not some hack and slash game.

[@misteral9045]

"Video game journalists aren't gamers, they try to explore and describe the game to the best of their abilities." -Bloke with the cupped mic

[@Xelzeno]

Three battlemages, also just seem to be fully focused on two-handed weapons and damage spells. Also mentions how the game informs you about stuff like setting grease on fire for extra damage, but then fails to understand that you can replicate the effect by casting grease followed by fire. Origins can be truly hard on the higher difficulties but if you balance your party and use the tactics system it flows well. Repeatedly banging your head against a stone wall... does not. Also he missed out on Shale one of the most fun and strongest companions.

[@balasubramanianb2308]

also having heavy suits on mages bloke was dropped in head.

[@mrbigglezworth42]

@@Xelzeno DAO decided it wanted to be like a tabletop rpg so much that most of the direct damage spells are often the worst pick you can choose for Morrigan or Wynn if you aren't personally playing a mage. Also that mages are downright broken and can be the defining factor on if you win or lose a fight. Even after having replayed it after all this time, I still have mixed feelings on DAOs combat system not quite being real time or turn based when honestly it probably would've done better being turn based. I spent more time pausing to queue orders and make decisions than I did letting it play itself.

[@siderbrighthelm]

"So help me god I will turn this crusade around." I need this as a shirt

[@petitblanc7343]

Pretty sure its a Monty Python quote

[@siderbrighthelm]

@petitblanc7343 you know, that does sound familiar

[@tetsatou2815]

Things that a few of the real world Crusades shoulda done.

[@SoulseekerNF]

Interesting, never heard about Deep Roads being disliked. I completed the game at least 8 times and every time, it's my favourite place and the deeper you go the more realistic the sense of claustrophobia and the suffocating feeling of being this far away from the way out to the surface gets, it's very atmospheric.

[@Skumtomten1]

Orzammar is my favorite area in the game. It has such a great atmosphere. Sure the deep roads section is very long, but I really enjoy the combat in Origins and it has this epic feeling, like going through Moria in lotr. It has to be said though that some of those areas do look terrible, even for 2009 standards. It's like they copied a giant rock object and rotated it a few times and bam, the area was finished. Some other areas like the Korcari Wilds, Ostagar and many interior areas do look great though. It's pretty inconsistent in terms of graphics but I love the artstyle.

[@theobell2002]

The Deep Roads go on for way too long. It's a slog.

[@thomasjoychild4962]

I LOVE getting an extended section of cutting a bloody swathe through that whole gauntlet of darkspawn. Also yes about feeling more and more suffocated the deeper you go.

[@thomasjoychild4962]

@@theobell2002 YMMV, for me it's a nice long section of doing solid Grey Warden work, cutting down darkspawn like daisies.

[@CrimsonTentacle]

I am that weirdo who always enjoyed the Fade but suffered through Deep Roads. Puzzle, backtracking and some demon shenanigans? Sign me the f up. But after hours in Deep Roads I was yearning for death, convinced I shall never see the light of the sun or the smiles of my family ever again...

[@andrewbrown1095]

In contrast to your statement on grease, I found it very helpful late level. It was fun to have them fall from grease, then get up, then fall from fireball knockdown, and then die to a Lightning Storm.

[@Akrymir]

You shouldn't need to cheese the game on harder difficulties, but it does expect you to engage with the most basic mechanics in the game... namely pause and command. This is true for both console and PC versions.

[@DA-uo5hz]

DA:O didn't have pause on console iirc. made it pretty hard lol

[@Akrymir]

@@DA-uo5hz Yes it did, but it didn't have the tactical camera view, which made it a bit more difficult to control.

[@DA-uo5hz]

@@Akrymir yeah I think I remember it had like the circle menu thing now. Pretty cursed compromise, in retrospect I probably leaned on it pretty hard to get healing out

[@wolffster25]

I have one critiques, Paragons aren’t necessarily born but chosen. A dwarf becomes a Paragon when they make a significant contribution to dwarven society. Anyone can potentially become a paragon either noble or the casteless they are just more likely to be warriors, smiths, and artisans. Other than that this video was great Dragon Age Origins is still has some of the best writing and characters in all of BioWare.

[@ichigokage]

In fact if your Warden is the casteless Dwarf, they become a Paragon right?

[@songo4950]

@@ichigokage yes- if you die due to archdemon kill as commoner dwarf- that happen automaticly, if you surfive you can choice this as a boon in ending scene

[@ZijnShayatanica]

_"Have you ever licked a lamp post in winter?"_ BEST GAME WRITING OF ALL TIME. NO NOTES.

[@atraxian5881]

Still better than Veilguard writing.

[@ITBEurgava]

Not sure they have lamp post. Maybe a torchpole?

[@RedBeardDog]

@@ITBEurgava They don't refer to electrical lamps but oil ones.

[@marlinlovato]

And it led us to "You licked a dead spider. Dead Spider. You licked it."

[@Eleglas]

You are "woo-less", so to speak?

[@Stranglehold138]

Back when I installed a nude mod for the sheer reason that the clothed sex scenes were utterly stupid. Which was fine until Return to Ostagar was released and my party walked past the crucified corpse of the dead king and his gigantic rigor mortis erection.

[@hariman7727]

Instant Karma.

[@Zerphses]

Yep. In fairness, I doubt the darkspawn would leave him with his dignity, so it is technically more realistic. If you start a new playthrough, also watch out for the hungry prisoner that gives you the key to the mage’s chest in the prologue. They really took everything from him.

[@bighatastrea]

LMAO. I did exactly the same and remember this too. I was a horny teenager back then and installed all the unhinged lewd stuff. I remember the naked king too, or when you had to escape the prison and everyone was just naked. But honestly, nothing about this game was hot - I legit don't understand how anyone can find especially Morrigan in this game attractive. Character models look hideous for nowadays' standards, even Veilguard looks better, and nothing compares to DAI Morrigan. The gigantic hands, the wrinkly face. But I also remember mods that brought the DA2 Grey Warden armor to DAO. Always loved these.

[@hariman7727]

@@bighatastrea Morrigan is attractive for two, maybe three reasons: 3: She's a wild/capable woman, and she's HILARIOUS when talking with most of the other companions. 2: That outfit. 1: Claudia Black's acting/voice.

[@ichigokage]

@@bighatastrea Alistair and Zevran still look handsome to this day. Yeah the game has aged. But the character models look fine. Isabela in Origins does look odd but 2 made her look more unique.

[@TheNairnsHair]

It’s a shame it doesn’t seem like he engaged with the companions very much outside of what was mandatory, and Morrigan’s personal quest. It’s a companion focused game imo, so I do feel it’s a shame he seems to have missed out on a lot of that. Though maybe that side of the game isn’t what Josh is interested in

[@FilthyNobeard]

Yeah, what he said about Zeveran was total nonsense. You don't have to take anyone on missions, you just have to take an interest in the character. Having pleasant exchanges every now and then in camp, a thoughtful gift (not the cheesy one, an actual item you imagine is significant to them) and you'll get their morale bonuses and quests unlocked no problem.

[@clintbeastwood5116]

I remember when Dragon Age was a Dark Fantasy. Starting as an elf in this game is rough.

[@RyoCaliente]

I didn't need to remember, because I've been playing Veilguard where one of the first places you go is a completely blighted city and you see at least two guys essentially being eaten by the Blight. Gross stuff!

[@majesticslug3399]

@@RyoCaliente The darkest thing about Veilguard is how much it shows old Bioware is dead.

[@dukeofgotham4311]

@RyoCaliente that’s Disney level dark unlike origins where the darkspawn make a dwarf into a broodmother and you learn how they’re created and what they do for the darkspawn. Now that’s some terrifying stuff.

[@RyoCaliente]

@@majesticslug3399 Swooping is bad

[@RyoCaliente]

@@dukeofgotham4311 The point was not 'it's darker than Origins', the point was "it's plenty dark'.

[@BustertheMadCat]

Man, a whole playthrough without knowing about the spell combos.. thats like the whole thing about the dragon age combat! The oil and fire is just the one, theres the stasis and despell AOE, weakness hex with the drain life and mana, all the detonates. It doesnt help with the final dragon, but it can help alot woth some of the other fights, setting up the CC’s and the detonates for maximum damage. Also the whole rogue backstab zone is a thing. I finally tried the dwarf openings not too long ago, listening to Steve Blum talk to Steve Blum is hilarious!

[@ichigokage]

Also iirc if you freeze someone then do Stone Fist, it’s shatters or something?

[@FilthyNobeard]

Honestly, I think a lot of people are overstating the importance of spell combos. They're fun, but I basically don't use any of them other than Improved Life Drain (which funnily enough is bugged and doesn't even work right without the patch) and I breeze through the game and have a ton of fun on Hard mode.

[@Spy-dr9nz]

28:40 So this actually isn’t a glitch. Specializations are connected to achievements, so if you wanted to remove the ones you unlocked in another play through. You can delete your achievement data. The reverse also works. If you mod the command console to be visible. You can force all the achievements unlocked and get all the specializations.

[@KaNoMikoProductions]

I don't know what game you played that you came away with the impression that Loghain is "self-centered to a fault." Moreover, Loghain's objection to Orleasan help is not because they're a "foreign power," but because they had subjugated his country until he and Maric lead a bloody war of independence.

[@XoriniteWisp]

"You never end up using spell combinations"? What? Spell combos are awesome!

[@thegrumpyraccoon]

For me it's weird that he had to lower the difficulty. I mean not everyone has to run around in massive armor. You need a baseline party, one of each: rogue, tank, healer. Fourth one is up for debate but usually a dps.

[@asianslikepie]

Does anyone else have memories of cheesing the opening of Awakening dlc by just spamming Storm of Century killing all the darkspawn behind the camp walls?

[@thehalfrican1386]

​@@thegrumpyraccoon heavy armor casters was crazy af to see xD

[@tmage23]

@@thegrumpyraccoon I usually have Morrigan as dps/controller mage and Wynne as healer mage unless I'm playing a PC mage.

[@thorinhannahs4614]

I did the paralysis glyph combo on the fight where the dog joins you. That was a very quick fight. I also did it on the bandits in front of Lothering, it was nice to play as a "speedster"

[@Seedmember]

Fun fact about the stat boosters in the fade: At the time the game came out, if your CPU wasn't up to date, the game would lag when you clicked the pedestals. If you clicked fast enough, the stat gain would be applied repeatedly, so you could actually earn a lot more stats. Don't know if this was fixed later, but nowadays it's nigh impossible to lag the game on modern systems.

[@mementomori771]

Yo the timing on this is peak! Ive been replaying DA:O recently

[@alecrizzle]

Peak what?

[@mafiousbj]

Much like Starfield made me replay Skyrim, Veilguard made want to replay Origins. And funny thing is I saw the mediocrity coming so didn't spend a dime of the games. Played them at a friends house 😂

[@Flopdoodle]

Most people have, to wash out the bad taste that was DA:V.

[@theobell2002]

@@mafiousbj Skyrim is just as mediocre as Starfield.

[@mafiousbj]

@theobell2002 one is a 2011 game, the other is the same game in space released in 2023. Context matters 😂. Of course it doesn't touch Morrowind in most aspects but it was my first ES game I sank tons of hours in (was too young to fully understand Oblivion) and I can't play it unmodded, feels too barebones. But man, nostalgia is powerful 😂

[@CatFish107]

The expansion pack "Awakenings" had my absolute favorite thing ever in a videogame: a character that keeps a kitten named "Ser Pounce-a-lot" in his robe pockets. 25/10 concept.

[@lechecbb]

It's interesting how the difficulties Josh experienced were actually the things I learned I was good at because of DAO, especially with the micromanaging, to the point that this was the first game I ever beat on the highest difficulty (Nightmare if I recall). I still remember being so proud when I beat Flemeth on that setting. To this day, I still remember my warden fondly (A male, two-handed sword weilding city elf named Sevarian). I may have fallen off the series after DA2, but the fact that, 15 years later, all I need to hear is "Enchantment!" or a vague description of a quest and go "Oh shit I remember that", speaks volumes of the impact that game had on me.

[@ZanderSabbag]

I am the same as you. I actually had to increase the difficulty of the game as I went along. By the second half of Act II, I was in Nightmare I think

[@vanyadolly]

I love that the game difficulty actually hinges on your understanding of the tools and mechanics. As you get better at it, you pretty much have to crank it up to Nightmare but it's still satisfying. But poor Josh really was struggling lol.

[@ZanderSabbag]

@@vanyadolly Seems to me that he wasn’t having fun engaging with the gameplay that way, which is weird to me, but to each their own. At least he got through the game.

[@nickelpro1]

​@@ZanderSabbag He's running all mages in heavy armor with 2H weapons and thinks cheesing is *necessary* on the lowest difficulty, he's not engaging with even basic CRPG common sense much less Dragon Age specific mechanics

[@crushcommando8637]

Yeah my memory may be funny, but i did a melee warden and used the DLC bonus armor from the start until literally the final boss fight on normal and had no issues. My only roadblock was the fact my party kept dying to the archdemon and i'd get swarmed which made me realize... i'd never changed any of their starting armor gear lol. I was so tanky and had such DPS I plowed through encounters mostly on my own and they helped; I didn't know those other best armor sets even existed! After giving my party gear ups I beat the final boss much easier.

[@Athrun82]

The interesting part about each Origin story is that you can take multiple choices. For the mage you can either side with Jowan or you can go straight to the First enchanter and tell him about Jowan's plan and he will reveal he knew all along. It gives at least the options to role play

[@thechatteringclown]

i really like sten. while many people immediately write him off and don't really take the time to try and understand things from the viewpoint of a completely foreign culture, diving into his beliefs and worldviews is one of the more fascinating thing one can do. i also deeply enjoyed the dwarven quest line. not having a clear-cut "good" side to pick was a refreshing surprise. i thought the choice would be easy, especially given my first character had the dwarven noble background, so it should have been obvious whom to side with, but i really had to think for a while. now that's the mark of good writing.

[@marley7868]

I mean the prince was the worst choice he just does nothing but pick fights with his own nobles for no reason

[@bimmer8602]

Always use him in my party as tank build. Big size dude makes sense for being a tank.

[@chrislee5268]

Sten is too nuanced for a modern audience. So many people preach tolerance but then recoil at a guy who has foreign values.

[@marley7868]

@@chrislee5268 I understand his foreign values they are simply repugnent to me which is about as tolerant as I ever claim to be

[@chrislee5268]

@@marley7868 There's nothing repugnant about his values.

[@Cruddyhorse]

I think he played the entire game not knowing you can expand the hotbar by dragging the edge.

[@DragoonKain3]

"You never end using up much of [combination spells] beyond this moment" As someone who played DAO 4 times over in Nightmare, I don't know what I would have done without combo spells. Insta-kill with shattering combos, entropic death for big damage against high health enemies, and Shockwave to 'cancel' a force-field on a party member that was grabbed (and do damage to boot), just to name a few. Basically any party that doesn't include 2 mages makes the game harder than it is supposed to be, as mages are the only class that can inflict (by modern Bioware terms) 'primers' and they hold the majority of the 'detonators'. Oh yeah, they have healing and buffs as well, so while they don't have the tankiness of Warriors or the DPS of rogues, but them essentially being the equivalent of Cleric/Wizard multiclass in DnD meant they were the most important class due to the sheer amount of utility they bring. But yeah, seeing your video just makes me sad on where Bioware is now, especially with Veilguard. That's ok though, as other developers have taken up the mantle, and can't be more like DAO than last year's Baldur's Gate 3. EDIT: Oh one more thing, the key to 'surviving' DAO (and by extension having much more fun) is having an effective tank. This means a max DEX sword-and-board warrior that maximizes DEFENSE talents and uses a dagger (which gives 0.5 damage per DEX IIRC). It's basically the fantasy version of the Roman Legionnaire, and basically the only way it can get hurt are elemental attacks (of which are usually not lethal even with base HP), attacks that target mental resistance (of which you counter by going Templar), and most dangerously, attacks that target physical resistance like grabs (to which you counter by having a tactic that casts forcefield whenever an ally gets grabbed). Basically, optimized party building is what makes the higher difficulties so rewarding to play, because personally I never really did any of the pull cheese and got by fine in Nightmare multiple times.

[@nach4642]

He's joking about gamer journalists jokes, but in this case it is 100% true. He does not think to deeply about game mechanics beyond how they work with the story. You can see it in his BG playthroughs.

[@IcaroMendonca]

Hard disagree on the tank think. First, a 2handed build warrior is not only nightmare viable, but has advantages that make arguably as good as or better than a Shield warrior, such as earlier access to cc immunity, better area cc, more damage, and because of the damage, better aggro management. Second, some dps teams are able to output so much damage that they don't need a tank. IIRC, 3 rogue archers plus shale is the best of those. Third, stealth is so broken that correct use of it trivializes most encounters in the game. You can solo the game basically using stealth, and traps for bosses that you can't pull one at a time. In fact, mages can also solo the game. No build is *required*, not even in the highest difficulty.

[@animusnocturnus7131]

I can't speak to the nightmare difficulty, but making Alistair a Sword & Board Templar and using combo spells definitely caused my playthrough to be rather effordless.

[@Corsharkgaming]

I was kinda flabbergasted by the difficulty comments here, like I could beat this game on normal with a light armor dual wielding mage with half my points in dex when I was 10. Its got difficult moments but I think Josh's copy might be bugged.

[@JimmyMon666]

Yeah normal is not difficult. Especially after the 1st patch nerfed some things. The game was actually more difficult at launch (though there were ways to cheese it by casting force field on your tank, send him in, and nuke the hell out of the area with AOE's). I probably don't use as many combos as I should, but Storm of the Century is awesome to use in many situations with lots of mobs.

[@thewhiteonetwo1784]

This might be because I played the game on ps3, but the fade part was one of my favorites. The transformations, the cool puzzles, seeing the dream desires of your party members. I loved it.

[@tmage23]

The Fade is great the first time you experience it. After that, it just becomes a slog. Every time I've played the game over the last few years, I've found the "Skip the Fade" mod essential to my enjoyment of the early game.

[@provalone]

I still love it. With the shape shifting I think it's a great first destination and the free points give you a lot of power early on. I do not get why people hate it so.

[@Arudo610]

I've never understood the hate for it. It's certainly not like the rest of the game, but I've enjoyed the Fade every playthrough.

[@thegrumpyraccoon]

I think the main reason why people hate the fade is because it comes at the end of a long dungeon sequence. You fight your way up the tower and then are railroaded into the fade without a break. If it was part of separate sidequest it would have been better received.

[@asianslikepie]

@@Arudo610 I dislike the Fade because the tools you have available in there are so lacking. Golem is so inaccurate with it's auto attacks that the form is practically harmless when abilities are on cd. Burning man is just warrior with none of the warrior talents and just a shitty fireball relegating him to fire puzzle solving and anti-rage demon. Arcane horror is the only one with an actually realized skill and the form you'll be using for 80% of Fade combat. Horror's move set is the only one actually fleshed out since the other two forms are trash mobs and arcane horror is an elite enemy. There's actual decision making playing as the horror while the other two forms literally have 1-2 buttons. It's not exciting, the form changing is a gimmick that only sort of works because thankfully the forms come with fat stats. In exchange for losing your full build, equipment, party members and essentially everything that made your playthrough unique.

[@ditto56789]

A few things I remember from the countless hours on DAO,. You can defile the Ashes of Andraste for extra exp, but Leliana will turn on you allowing you to kill her. If you ask her in DAI she mentions that she remembers being killed but was resurrected. If you get Shale from the DLC and do the Fade she mentions that she is un affected by magic and is unsure why she even is in the fade. If you bring Shale to the deeproads and find the golems with her in the party she provides a lot of history and insight. Its almost like a mini side quest where she remembers more about herself before she sold to the mage in the village.

[@DanielRyanScott]

Liliana in Inquisition is a fade spirit kind of like Cole. Its why she can be hardened or softened like other spirit characters can be persuaded. At the end of Trespasser its kind of explained.

[@theAirborne17th]

Losing in the Landsmeet is actually harder than it seems you have to go out of your way to not talk to the lords. Which winning there is a great moment, I remember always having a save just before it to relive the scene.

[@MuffinYoBusiness]

So I say this with sincerity, I think you should try replaying the game again. I think a lot of things were missed on this playthrough. Even without doing the dlc there things like personal quests and companion story progression to name a few. A lot of the difficulty came down to using squishy characters and no defensive party members which is why you potentially kept dying a lot. As while armor does help with defense, the vast majority of armor scales with your character. So while there is “best armor” it’s comes down it’s substats it’s affecting like increased healing, hp regen during combat, etc. Again it’s not expected to be known to a person playing this game for the first time, as when I first got this game I know I for example did all the quests for Belen and then gave the crown to Harrowmont which led to a whole civil war in the end credits. Or me trying to save the mages but killing the first enchanted which locked out me saving the arls son Conner. I think the review was great I just think personally it feels a little rushed if that makes sense? Like there wasn’t any time to really explore the game for what it was.

[@DibsAtraiyu]

Ya. Review is fine but his game play gripes come from him playing the most unoptimal setup Like...I played with a mage front line but I also was a arcane warrior+blood mage because it lets willpower fill in for STR and you get auras that need enemies and heal you. If you aren't doing that you are better off running mages in light armor that grant ACTUAL benefits like increased mana pool and not making your spells cost 90% more.

[@sanderkiki]

It wasn't his 1st cuz i remember how he streamed it before with different characters. So the man just refused to learn anything about mechanics or how to play.

[@Daedalus4]

It's true. I was kinda confused as to why he said that you can't avoid getting knocked down or something, when not being knocked down (at least directly) is a feature of the abilities a Shield Tank can get with an upgraded Shield Wall.

[@torquewrench8768]

@@DibsAtraiyu The great thing about the game is that choices really do matter. I personally played as a rogue and By endgame I was a dodge tank and didn't realize that other people struggled with the Arch demon.

[@JimmyMon666]

He also missed you can have your companions bust you out of prison, which is a hilarious experience. Maybe they went a bit over the top with the humor, but I still love it. There are so many combos you can do with your companions busting you out of prison. It's worth doing most of the combos for the laughs. Morrigan and Oghren have some of the best lines, but they are all pretty good. Even Sten.

[@TheThomasBarry]

33:24 A bit more detail to Loghain's motivation here and later in the game adds more depth and while it may not excuse his actions it does make them understandable. Orlais invaded Ferelden and within 20 years had the entire country occupied. Loghain was born into an Orlesian occupied Ferelden and was a victim of their abuse right from the start. He had a family pet that the Orlesians took as a breeding hound and when it was spent they returned it by throwing it out of a moving wagon. Loghain, only 10, held his childhood dog as it died. A few years later his parents were unable to pay the unfair taxes Orlais have placed on his village so Orlesian soldier came by to collect what they could. They chose his mother. They assaulted his mother in front of him and his father and eventually killed her. It was this that caused Loghain and his father (who was old enough to remember a free Ferelden) to join the rebellion. Within a few years they found prince Maric (Cailan's father). Soon after that Loghain watched Orlesian soldier overwhelm and kill his father while he was forced to flee. He then spend another 4 years fighting and killing Orlesians with the now proclaimed King Maric in order to free Ferelden from Orlesian rule. King Maric went missing and Loghain spent a couple of years looking for him, convinced Orlais had him held prisoner. This scene is 30 years after the liberation of Ferelden and 5 years after Maric went missing. Loghain likely believes King Maric is alive and in Orlais at this point in time adding more paranoid fuel to his fire of hatred. Loghain's fundamental years were spent entirely being abused by or fighting Orlesians. His foundation is that of agony and hatred. In Loghain's mind, the only true threat to Ferelden is Orlais. To allow their military back into Ferelden to fight an enemy that either 1.) Doesn't truly exist; 2.) Exists but isn't a genuine threat; or 3.) Exists and is a genuine threat but can be handled; is inviting a threat that is genuine and may not be able to be handled to walk right up behind you and stick a dagger in your spine. In other words Orlais is offering their assistance to gain a foothold back in Ferelden and Cailan doesn't understand that and doesn't know what Orlais is capable of. In Loghain's mind Cailan is about to undo everything he and so many of his friends and family fought and died for.

[@VinnyFonseca]

So, instead, he left his daughter's husband and his country's king to die in a ditch. Great nationalist and protector of his friends and family.

[@TheThomasBarry]

@ In his mind he did what was necessary to protect Ferelden. Speaking to him in Inquisition clarifies it more and he does admit that what he did at Ostigar was wrong. But the Loghain in Origins is unapologetic and ruthless about what he thinks he needs to do.

[@Aleph3575]

That's also one of the reasons I hate that Inquisition pushes you so hard to like the Orlesians and basically paints Ferelden as being the backwater hick country that would rather the world get destroyed than allow the one competent group in the world to do its job because their worried its too close to Orleis.

[@FitzFarseer96]

Wow. Granted it's been years since I played the game but I had no idea this nuance was behind Loghain. I played the game viewing him as just a villain who saw his chance to become king, thinking he could deal with the enemy himself after he had power.

[@TheThomasBarry]

@@FitzFarseer96 The novels follow him and Maric and is where his backstory can be found. There are hints here and there in game, but if you casually just play through it that’s the image you can’t help but see of him. It’s not really your fault. It’s a shame they couldn’t capture his layers in game, but he still makes for a good bad guy.

[@coffeedeus]

The Alistair & Morrigan banter never gets old. Exceptional review!

[@DracoSuave]

Correction: Awakening is not a prequal, it's a sequal and a full campaign of its own

[@DanMarston117]

"After I understood how dragon age combat mechanics worked, I turned the difficulty down." Sounds like you never understood how dragon age combat mechanics worked, then.

[@bazs7722]

Josh, I love your video, but that segment about the game's difficulty is really not a good representation of how the combat actually is. I don't want to offend you, but you actually didn't understood how the combat works. Your party composition actually matters in this game and not having a warrior who manage aggro from the other character is crucial. Continuously dying in every encounter is the not so subtle hint that your party is not working and you should change up your tactics, instead of brute forcing yourself through the encounters. No matter how many layers of metal your mage gonna wear, that is still just a mage with significantly less durability. You can absolutely go through this game without "abusing" the enemy AI or mechanics if you use other tools the game offers you for the problems you cannot manage with your party setup. There are issues with the combat, but saying it's all about "abusing mechanics" is just straight up false. Keep up the good work and have a wonderful day!

[@DeadbeatShadows]

The one fantasy series that never gets credited for inspiring Origins is Wheel of Time. The Fade is a lot like Tel'aran'rhiod, the World of Dreams. Magic users all live in a tower mostly shunned but feared because some of them tainted the world long ago, and the Qunari collar and control their mages much like the Seanchan turn their channelers into the damane. Darkspawn feel very reminiscent of the shadowspawn, the Grey Wardens sense the presence of darkspawn much like warders, the bonded partners of the Aes Sedai, can sense shadowspawn. And I've always felt the Qunari home, Par Vollen, sounds an awful lot like Tar Valon... I grew up reading Wheel of Time and Origins was a real treat with how much inspiration it takes, spins, and does unique things from all over the fantasy genre.

[@maryapple7108]

Wow! I'm gonna check the books out then. Thanks! 😁

[@Raganui]

@@maryapple7108 I love the books, but I will give a warning. The middle is LONG. Like, there's a lot of explaining things, because of the three protagonists, even if one is 'more protagonist' than the other two. And Jordan liked to go very in depth with his descriptions and everything about the series.

[@andrewh3079]

Yeah the books are so great. Especially the first one imo

[@violetbliss4399]

It's really really prominent if you've read the series! Like I posted elsewhere I think beyond LotR, I wonder if the Wardens aren't more of a loan from A Song of Ice and Fire - was beginning to be mainstream for fantasy readers at the time.

[@PedricCuf]

@@violetbliss4399 Oh, there's a most deinitely lot of SoIaF in DA:O. GoT was very popular with fantasy readers in the early oughts.

[@jordangordon2350]

Finally playing it for the first time. Original 360 version on an HD CRT and so far it is so much fun. It's so interesting to have a colorful fantasy game that takes itself seriously and has very mature (but not crude) elements. So different compared to modern design philosophy. I love it.

[@ValtheJean]

1:30:00 So an interesting note about Bhelen, while he is a bigger asshole than Harrowmont, funny enough he is one of the better choices. Harrowmont represents a hardlined, stuck in the stone order that refuses to adapt to the problems of the real world. Bhelen, on the other hand, represents radical changes albeit using corrupt tactics. For example, Bhelen's position on the Darkspawn war is that even commoner Dwarves should be allowed to fight in the army and join the warrior caste. If you do not keep the Anvil, this policy is the reason the Dwarf kingdom does not collapse. Harrowmont, on the other hand, is guaranteed to have the dwarf society collapse UNLESS you keep the anvil. It's an absolutely amazing set of moral choices and outcomes. I love this game far too much.

[@samysnes]

Apparently the GOG version is patched, has all DLC and runs great! That'll teach people to think the only gaming platform on PC is Steam...

[@hariman7727]

AND buying on GOG means Steam has competition, making them becoming a stupid monopoly less likely.

[@looots1320]

The only platform on PC is STEAM period

[@samysnes]

@@looots1320 sure, buddy

[@jimijenkins2548]

@@hariman7727 Gabe's gonna put a bunch of junk in his will to where it'll take them decades to make Steam a soulless monopoly.

[@BlobBlobkins]

​@@looots1320Kid

[@Macapta]

I’ll never forget when I first played the game when I was 12. Killed a few rats in the Noble origin and somehow my character came out of that room drenched in blood. Life changing.

[@Silentpoppy]

bathing in the blood of rats shows the other rats what happens when you fuck around

[@Peptuck]

Best part is that to get rid of the blood, you can just take your armor off and put it back on. That apparently resets the blood decals on your character, in case you wanted to not look like a crazed axe murderer.

[@BradTheAmerican]

@@Peptuck You can also ask your dog to lick up the blood.

[@FilthyNobeard]

Like popping water balloons...

[@joshuapatrick682]

Anyone else choose elf as their first play through starting class? That was a tough one, especially when my second was a human noble…

[@net_spider]

Nothin against you man, but I'm genuinely confused how you were having trouble with this game on normal. I lost maybe twice my first go around and I don't think I was cheesing it or even trying that hard with strategy. I think I was 15 or 16 at the time and got the ultimate edition when it came out. I literally bumbled around the game because I couldn't be bothered finding everything (I have a lot more respect for it now, but I was a "just do the main quest" kind of kid).

[@PEguinQuAcKers]

its called being a busy adult and wanting to enjoy the game

[@xandara75]

@@PEguinQuAcKers As a kid i found this game difficult, as an adult I didn't, at any point, even after increasing the difficulty. This is really a games journalist not being good at videogames thing at this point.

[@boxtupos7718]

​@@PEguinQuAcKersExcept no, he ran 3 Arcane Warrior as melee casters lol That could work, but he actively chose not to use the game mechanic that makes casters broken in this game; Which are Spell Combos. A Freeze/Petrify--> Stone Punch would end most mob encounter he has. But he decided not to engage with that mechanic. It would've made his playthrough much quicker, so he could've saved time.

[@Blisterdude123]

Veilguard drove me to replay Origins, its been a number of years since the last time. All it did was remind me what a wonderful experience it really was. Every time it takes me back to that Christmas when I was a kid, sneaking off upstairs to play it in spurts before my parents dragged us back down to do family things lmao

[@randomrandom7208]

I tried the same but my god that shitty combat system and char progression, after playing modern rpgs like pathfinders, PoE and Rogue Trader, combat where is all you need to do is press every skill on cd fighting same generic enemies was a major disapointment.

[@wingthomaux]

@@randomrandom7208yes a lot of darkspawn, but you fight also every playable race, a variety of demons, spiders, dragons, golems, werewolves, wildlife, probably more that I don’t remember of the top of my head. I think the enemy variety fits to every zone and is enough to not make it boring. The ability spamming, kind of yes, except for mages. They have so many different specs and in every spec so many skills, if you’re good you use different ones according to situation/enemy, as a healer you have to do decision making in what do with every action you take on some moments. I get that it’s not as good as newer games, that i might try actually so thanks for the list, but imo it’s fine for what it is. If you want fun combat just play mage, you can even have a nearly full mage party. Make yourself arcane warrior tank, wynne healer, morrigan damage/crowd control, a rogue for dmg and mainly for lockpicking.

[@thorinhannahs4614]

All of the Veilguard talk got me to boot up Origins again. Morrigan and Alistair have been an absolute treat.

[@randomrandom7208]

@@wingthomaux The main problem with enemies is not that they look the same, it's that they act the same. Fighting darkspawn is no different than fighting wolves, even spellcasters are glorified archers most of the time, sometimes the level design or boss will force you to adapt, but not so often that the combat doesn't feel monotonous. And about mage development, yes, unlike fighters who have to specialize and lose 2/3 of their skills because they can't use it with their current weapon, spellcastes has more options, but most damage spells feel the same because it's just damage + a small debuff and 90% of buffs/debuf can't compete with raw damage. Why would I need 4 different types of single-target bolts or circle AOE spells if the difference between them is trading some damage for a minor debuff and the cooldowns are so long that I'll still use them one after another just to cast something? Don't get me wrong, I like the game, but the combat is definitely not the best part, it's playable, but nothing more.

[@acdcljb]

Same, same. Throw in a couple of mods and fire it up.

[@MigoqAki]

Not gonna lie, while it's still a great video, I loved it, I think it's either one of your weaker ones or you start to get your horizons narrowed. I do understand that for what you do, you're not gonna spend bajillion hours delving into game's mechanics and what not. That's only fair. I also get that you want to experience the game without external help or guides, that's also fair. But you kinda fall into holes of discovering things and deciding you actually found the only objective way to do X thing. Or to cheese the game. Or that "this approach is objectively the best" - the 'you'll never use spell combinations again' comment speaks of that. I just think it'd be nice to either tone that down a bit or bring out the best of you, which is writing and performing on this videos, more. Because I love they way you talk about the world, the story, the characters, but whenever game mechanics approach talks kick in, the moment you stop stating objective facts, this is the moment you see the cracks even as someone unfamiliar to the game. But man I love this video and hate it at the same time, because it shows me how much the potential of DA's setting and the world got fking squandered

[@fatavi2]

I was thinking of ranting about the guy's narrow understanding of the game's difficulty and mechanics in comments. You summarized it for me. He didn't really put enough effort into learning the builds, itemization, combos, etc., which is essential for a large RPG. This is fair, given that we lead busy lives, but it's still sad to see someone spreading misinformation while claiming objectivity.

[@chronoes15]

um, I'm pretty sure what he speaks is pure sarcasm. Saying things like "objectively the best" is a smug joke not a statement reached by thorough analysis. This type of speech is core to British humor, and by extension, to Josh.

[@alhoon6173]

@@chronoes15 Is his objectively terrible gameplay and baffling tirades at difficulty in a game where none exist also humour? Because if so, this video was too meta for me.

[@theperfectbeing]

The part where you have to choose between killing the possessed child or letting him live to find an alternative (hopefully) is some of the more emotionally jarring writing I had ever witnessed in a game. They had the mother pleading for his life but child realized what he had done under the influence of the demons and all the people he had hurt, he was seemingly okay with it. My other favorite highlight was going back to find the heirlooms left in the Wardens Keep, only to find out that Levys great grandmother Sophia was possessed and was actually the one who caused the downfall of the city, which means all the tales spun regarding their heroic last stand was a blatant falsehood. Then having to choose to fight her to the death and find a way to close the tear or work with her to get her to do it for you. Doesn't matter what choice you go with in any of the scenarios, it rarely leaves you feeling justified and kind of morally grey. In my opinion that is absolute peak story writing for an open choice RPG, where the choices made are a matter of perspective and not moral grandstanding. Adds to the bleak and daunting lives the story is set in.

[@Colancio]

As a fan of all dwarven themed fantasy stuff, I love the deeproads and Orzammar with all my heart. I always play dwarf so that's also one of the reasons, feels like home.

[@Andreas_42]

Then I'm quite sure you like Inquisition's DLC The Descent a lot.

[@Colancio]

@@Andreas_42 I have never finished Inquisition sadly, is this DLC worth it? The overall story of DAI was very boring to me and the open world feeling like an MMORPG was a total slog

[@Andreas_42]

@@Colancio I'd recommend this DLC if you like the dwarves in Dragon Age, because it expandes the lore for them without taking all the mystery away. In the DLC, the dwarves ask for help for an expedition into some ancient parts of the deep roads, through an opening created by a series of earthquakes. Your party gets accompanied by a young shaper and a officer from the legion of the dead. Soon after setting up camp in the deep roads, you find clues about an ancient dwarven legend so old it's origin has been lost to time. But could there be more to it? If you don't like the Inquisition gameplay, I'm sure you'll be able to find a decent let's play to watch.

[@Colancio]

@@Andreas_42 Thanks for the summary I will look for gameplay on YT! thanks!

[@warlock91]

What a fantastic way to start the weekend. The answer is overwhelmingly yes but I'm looking forward to hearing what you've got to say about it.

[@dasaggropop1244]

he's gonna say it whelmingly

[@johnpantag472]

its completely outdated. getvyour nostalgia glasses off

[@Spicy_Spores]

@@johnpantag472 It’s a bit depressing that a large majority of games considered to be excellent are both from years ago, and done by companies without billions of dollars behind them. I’ll play a game considered “outdated” over a modern one any day. I don’t see how nostalgia has anything to do with influencing genuinely great games? I’m sorry your veilguard was infinitely disrespectful to the human race as a whole, but direct your anger towards the billion dollar monoliths who keep feeding you garbage, because you think you deserve garbage and will happily keep paying for garbage, so it continues.

[@Farowlol]

@@johnpantag472 to this very day it's ahead of its time lol

[@GooseGumlizzard]

game is trash, Dragons Dogma is way better

[@treydudley7966]

~*~ackshually~*~ the reason Loghain betrays Cailan is because he thinks the Orlesians are going to use the opportunity to "reinforce" Ferelden in order to occupy it. King Meric (Cailan's father) and Teryn Loghain were once freedom fighters who wrested control of Ferelden back from the Orlesians after a century of oppression and occupation. In his mind, Loghain never stopped fighting that war, and it makes him all the more compelling as a character and a villain.

[@Jase_LV]

I didn't think fade is bad. But the problem with it is that no decision inside it follows you outside. So using a mod to skip it all and just receive upgrades to stats was fine with me after I had already played through it 2 times.

[@MrThewooter]

Yeh. I always wanted how you dealt with Niall and the mad mages to mean something. i.e. if you sneak past or leave them alive there are living mages in the towers that remember you.

[@Tyanus2]

I think you missed out on conversations with your party by keeping mostly the same people in it, I mean you completely omitted Shale and her story within the golem forage is amazing, I am not surprised then that you felt like the convo runned out. I also disagree about the 3rd act being too long it is to facilitate the elven townsman or the human noble orgin I would rather have it still in there than have it cut out, and a tough final boss is great honestly.

[@mneletiidae]

He did mention not wanting to go too deep into the DLCs, so I imagine that's why he left her out. That said, he also just didn't go much into the depth of character interaction and didn't really mention Oghren much either. Not the focus on the video, I think.

[@EmrysCorbin]

@@mneletiidae he did. However, Shale is basically a mandatory character IMO. It was criminal she was pushed into DLC. This was when EA was pushing some of its worst DLC practices on all of its developers. Anyone playing this now, even for the first time, should 100% get Shale the second you can. Also, the fact he had to kill Zev tells me he was not rotating party members at all really, and you miss SO MUCH CONTENT that way.

[@MishraArtificer]

@@mneletiidae The problem with that, specifically with Shale, is that you can't really do their story after the main game is complete: it's a big chunk of the Orzammar treaty quest, including interacting with Caridin and exploring a specific part of the Deep Roads.

[@batonnikus]

​@@EmrysCorbinnobody rotates party members

[@CADClicker]

​@@EmrysCorbin The vast majority of people are not going to be rotating party members

[@Gustmazz]

I played origins for the first time when I was 15. I still remember crying at the credits. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in gaming. I'm 25 now. I went through the game again last month, after so many years and the credits STILL made me cry lol. This game barely aged at all.

[@Sansacar]

Josh: each battle is a puzzle also Josh: create the most unbalance party ever also also Josh: why am I keep dying A little bit of fair criticizm: to beat this game you need a good frontliner. A tank, who can take agro from the enemies and not die in the process. Alistar is perfect for it as he already a templar, which boosts his magic resists, but you can take Stan or dwarf for it, if you want. Next you need a healer. Not a battle-mage-healer. A dedicated healer, who needs do nothing else, but to cast heal on your tank. Rest of the slots can be filled however. If I could beat this game at 15 on hard, so could you! I believe in you!

[@Peptuck]

Also, Zevran is a really good dodge-tank if you max out his dexterity. But Josh never took him anywhere and never bothered building any rapport with him so naturally Zevran betrayed him.

[@alhoon6173]

There was nothing wrong in his party selection, in fact it was almost optimal, because mages are OP as fuck in DAO. Being an Arcane Warrior he could've become a tank. Sure you don't get Overwhelm immunity (not sure how much it's spammed on ultra easy) but everything else a tank needs is there. Also a healer is good, but you don't need to spam the tank with heals, just cast Force Field. Of course, his playstyle was ludicrously bad for that party composition. No spell combos with 3 mages is some of the most hilariously bad gameplay I've heard in a long time. Not surprised, seeing his other videos but still.

[@Sansacar]

@alhoon6173 you don't get provoke either, or whatever it called. Like, the most important skill as a tank. Mages are not op since they lack a single target damage that can be provided by either rogue or warrior. Next, you don't need to learn to do the class combos on hard or lower. A good party build is more than enough. It sure would've helped with his build, since 3 mages 1 rogue is rather advance stuff that needs planning ahead to pull off. But if you just build your party traditionally, you don't need to overthink stuff. Finally, despite my criticism, Josh isn't a bad gamer. He doesn't need to be the best. He is entertainer and storyteller. We don't come here for MLG pro plays. But he isn't bad gamer either. He just isn't a tactical gamer.

[@alhoon6173]

@@Sansacar It's been over 10 years since I last played DAO, so maybe my memory is rusty,. But I remember the "aggro" mechanics, if you can call them that, were kind of rudimentary. Basically as long as the tank went first and the squishies stood back, monsters targeted only the tank. Even if you cast Force Field on the tank and he can't attack or take any damage, enemies didn't care and just tried to attack the tank regardless. Now there are good reasons to be a proper shield wearing tank, such as immunity to Overwhelm, which was spammed infinitely on Nightmare at least. I mostly agree with you on the rest. Game sure is easier to intuitively play if you stick to more traditional party setup. I obviously like Josh's videos, I wouldn't watch 2 hour video from him otherwise. He's a good storyteller, and his analyses on game stories are spot on. But his mechanical understanding is severely lacking. Some of that can be explained by DAO being especially bad at explaining mechanics, but some things, like spell combos, are explained in game. I'll never understand players who would rather turn down difficulty instead of trying to use the tools the game gives them. So many gaming experiences have been ruined by a difficulty slider. But it is true that DAO is especially bad at explaining even simple mechanics. It's been over 10 years and I still vividly remember discovering that Sunder Arms, which just says it reduces enemy attack, actually not only attacks once but twice. And so does Sunder Armor. Neither of them say that anywhere, but they are some of the best attack skills, simply because of this.

[@xandara75]

@@Sansacar If he just allowed the game to use the tactical slots it has automatically set up he already would have done better than how he did. Wynne's healing preset of lvl 7 is good enough for her to never be touched again for the rest of the game and have her be a decent enough healbot in normal. Honestly I found this complaint about combat being hard kinda sad. I thought it was hard when I was 13 but I didn't anymore at 16.

[@heronoverdose]

I confess I forgot how good this game was, the dialogue, characters and twists such as Alistars! wow good times.

[@MrDark086]

Also, having the voice of none other than Kain himself for Loghain is top notch. Loghain himself also looks reminiscent of Kain when he was human, likely an intentional decision given both are dark fantasy settings. Templemans voice is unmistakable for sure and a perfect fit for the morbidly logical and calculating mind of Loghain

[@thomasjoychild4962]

Simon Templeman is a heck of an asset to a voice cast.

[@Gerroth]

Perfect timing, just finished the Neverwinter episode today and been thinking how much I wish the Dragon Age episode came out soon, cuz I heard you talking about it recently!

[@marley7868]

something I like about the king is he actually did have a good plan he just didn't count on what happened hell he also already had signed and ready to go a request for orlea to aid them he just never had the chance to send it

[@ZijnShayatanica]

That is such a good point. It really subverts the played-out trope of "the king is [sometimes secretly] evil & we need to coup about it to save the land".

[@marley7868]

@@ZijnShayatanica also it's nice play on him being romantic and alittle flippant while he's likely actually that kinda guy he also played into logains hatred of orlea to push him into acting for ferelden and personally I believe if logain actually finished his job the army of ferelden could have retreated in good order so he likley just plays into it

[@ZijnShayatanica]

@@marley7868 Good point! He was a very effective foil for Logain. And yeah, that theory is entirely possible... I either hadn't ever considered that, or it's been too long since I've played that I forgot some of those keener details about the war tactics. 😊

[@seleckcka7104]

Eh this part is debatable. He put his army into a position without the possibility of retreat without knowing the enemy numbers. Within the lore it is questionable if they would have won the fight even if Loghan didn´t back out. Also the support by Orlea is a lot less clear cut than it appears at first. The dlc where you return to the battle field implies that there is something going on between the queen of Orlea and the king. Chances are that the king could have sparked a civil war even without Loghan.

[@MacabreDaymare]

Loghain was mad that Cailan wanted to leave Anora for Empress Celene of Orlais.

[@DuctTapeJake]

1:18:15 I really like the lore behind Andraste if you read it. Its got just enough ambiguity and mythology to make sense as a religious legend.

[@TimelordRick]

HOT TAKE: The Deep Roads never bugged me. THE FADE ON THE OTHER HAND.

[@driesdriesdehaan]

Fair, the deep roads was allot more fun than the fade, it did drag on though...drag on age: deep roads

[@forest_hobo]

Orzammar and the Deep Roads are my favourite! And Fade never bothered me, easy and quick to do + all those tasty permanent stat boosts

[@earlofbroadst]

Skip the Fade mod is pretty much essential.

[@driesdriesdehaan]

@@earlofbroadst it is if you dont know what you are doing, if you do than the fade can be over quite quick and you can end up with some of the perma buffs aswell (quick edit, i do want to make sure to let you know i didnt mean what i said in a condecending way, you should enjoy the game however you want)

[@Cloud92390]

Been waiting for this started DA Origins years ago and thoroughly liked it. Need to go back and finish it.

[@JuliusKingsleyXIII]

What you said about Hard and Nightmare is just not true. There are not really any truly useless spells, especially on Hard. Only on Nightmare where there is friendly fire do you even need to stop to consider what spells you are using. The game is mostly about managing aggro, meaning making sure the enemies attack your tanks and not your squishies. Nightmare is mostly a joke outside of certain fights once you understand the basics. I will admit however, the game does not do a good job communicating a lot of important information and without mods half the shit in the game actually literally doesn't work but that has nothing to do with difficulty settings.

[@BaranZenon]

Also, if someone ever played OG Baldur's Gate games, the Nightmare difficulty is quite manageable with the old tactics used in BG.

[@batonnikus]

Just cheese the game bro. Combat is crap, enough said.

[@BloodyArchangelus]

@@batonnikus combat is fine Do not use meme builds

[@houndofculann1793]

On PC the friendly fire starts at Normal, Casual is the only difficulty without it

[@worm_9912]

Also his team set up is just very meh

[@nathanhenry5113]

Love this game , but I changed to casual a lot earlier than you did lol great video 😊

[@Razor7557]

51:22 Bit of a correction... Loghain doesn't hate Orlesians because of the suspicion they captured Maric. He hates them for invading and occupying Ferelden when he was a kid, his family dog was killed by Orlesians, and when he got older his mother was uh... "struggle snuggled" and killed by Orlesians as well, he later befriended Maric, the heir to the throne and joined the resistance against Orlesians where he rose to rank of general due to his tactical and martial skills. Loghain also banged Maric's wife-to-be Rowan when she was sad because Maric was paying more attention to an elf girl(Not Fiona) who was around at the time.

[@Serger989]

Your face over the desire demons chest made me spit out my water, I couldn't stop laughing for over a minute man, that was hilarious lol well done

[@adammusia9527]

I love you and I love the vid, but my god how have you fucked up Denerim, your companions helping you escape (yes, they do thay and it's funnier than doing it on your own), the lands meet, Anora's aliegence, and all these politics sections, I'm sad-mad! You could've done some side-quests and dialogues (with Anora, Alistair, and Aemon too) before the lands meet and make it all completely different and you wouldn't be so betrayed, it is important! Is there something better for Ferelden than Alistair+Anora=❤? :( Land's Meet has over a dozen endings and more variables to it, I loved it back then and haven't seen a similar quest with so many outside variables since, it is similar to NWN 2's trial though, yet even more moving parts are in it. Oh, and demigod baby is actually cool and she is a good mother in further Dragon Age games! And I don't know what's up with the difficulty, I remember that playing with 2 mages, 1 rogue, 1 warrior party Hard difficulty was doable, but special spell combinations with extra effects were very much needed, and I didn't find it tedious, maybe it's just that we were more used to these designs back then, and when we play it now, we forget how to do it

[@mrdewarion]

My thoughts exactly. That big fight that broke out in the hall after Anora's betrayal could have been fully avoided and only the duel would have been mandatory that way. I had to remind myself constantly that he plays a lot more games than I do *as a job* so he can't know all these things the way passionate DA:O fans do, otherwise I would have been genuinely upset over this 😅

[@KasumiRINA]

It's better for Ferelden for Alistair to marry ME and having Dark Queen Cousland the cut-throat rule then with her leather gloved fist and a network of thieves, of course!

[@ever611]

Ohhh! You are bringing so many memories of the NWN 2 trial!

[@thomasjoychild4962]

Leaving the competent ruler who wants the job (and agrees he dad is totally out of line, even if she doesn't want to execute him) where she is and letting the grey warden (who doesn't want the job) grow into a great grey warden commander? That's how I do it, usually. :P

[@adammusia9527]

@@thomasjoychild4962 but that British war criminal sacrified Alistair to the Dragon McBadguy because he didn't want to deflower Alistair with a sexy swamp witch OR empower a slightly witchy woman from a rural area (with a demigod soul, but still - they do need empowerment there), I had no idea the islanders are capable of such evil!

[@joshuapatrick682]

I think people forget this game was designed in a time before side content was really as prevalent as it is today, which meant there really is no way to trim it down and the main story takes a very long time but in terms of being able to play a role in a game, there simply aren’t many games that give you the narrative freedom this one does.

[@MR-hk2qu]

A few additions, as someone who replays the game about once a year and 100%ed it more than once: 11:50 only applies to Weapons that are not Staffs 12:35 Wrong! Stances have also a sustained Stamina Cost like the Sustained Mage Spells (Liliana for example uses up over 50% of her Stamina pool for sustained abilities while you explain it), but most non mages will usually only ever have 1-3 aktive at a time, while Mages can essentially use up their entire mana pool for sustained spells. Pairs well with the Blood Mage Subclass. 19:55 the choice is mainly for narative affect, if you betrai him you still help him destroy his phylactery to be able to rope his lady love in as well. 28:50 not a bug, but a feature :-P The cheese is commonly used for Blood Mage Subclass, as that requires an evil choice to obtain. Most Subclasses you can get by talking with your Companions without spending gold or completing quests. 35:00 correction: YOU don't end up using it much. I love using those combos and use them a lot. But Grease Fire is one of the worst you can use. Storm of the Century (Spell Might + Blizzard + Tempest) is the strongest AOE combo you can pull of. There are also Instakill Combos like Shattering or CC Combos like Paralysis Explosion which stunns Creatures for over 20 Seconds. Or Entropic Death, Debuff combined with a lot of damage. Or inoffical combos of Spell Wisp+Spell Might. 35:55 first time i won that fight as a Mage i ended up running in circles, waiting for my mana to recover to cast Winters Grasp. Rinse and repeat till Ogre droped. 1:03:43 This form actually has the necessary spells for the Shatter instakill combo 1:05:30 The lovestory is cut contend, there is a mod that restores it, meaning you can have a short kiss with him as a female mage. 1:12:00 If you have enough cunning, you can talk him down and he supports you in the final mission 1:24:00 If you had a better balanced team, you would have had a better time. No shame btw, understanding how enemy targeting works takes a while, but once you do it's easy. 1:40:00 The DLC Companion Shale has some unique dialoge here 1:41:00 Behlen is a traitorous bastard, but he opens up the dwarfs and loosens the caste system. He is very progressive. 1:49:00 you can also be rescued by 2 teammates 1:54:00 if you did Alistairs sidequest and told him to suck it up, this goes over a lot better 1:57:00 if you are male and in a relationship with her, you can deny her the ritual and she will still stick around 1:57:10 she is actually a good mom, but you only find that out in Inquisition 2:00:00 Spell combos would have helped... a lot 2:03:00 the 3rd Act is better if you know more about the side characters. But you only find out about that, via other origins. To the difficulty: You disregarded several mechanics that would have made it a lot easier. Granted some are not explained that well without reading a wall of text, others are shoved into your face but where disregarded as useless by you. Your Team composition was also very one sided, eliminating pretty much any advantage you could have gotten by diversifying your team. You are also either required to micromanage your team or set up the If statements for your companions to do much. Having a dedicated Tank and a dedicated Healer helps a lot too.

[@Sanvone]

"Balanced" team is also a player trap. From pure optimising standpoint you are not getting anything from mish-mashing different characters ways of fighting. Four characters wanting different combat scenarios are less efficient that team crafted towards one combat scenario. Archery is the best example as simple Archer is just that but fully dedicated Archer team in Origins obliterates. It is "player myth" from D&D. But DAO unlike D&D doesn't require flexibility at all and is more like CRPG. It is also not difficult enough to require "Tank and spank" approach. Across last 6 years and watching pretty much most if not all DAO playthroughs on YT, advicing someone to make "balanced team" backfires 9 times out of 10. I find it more useful to preach "Just focus fire and maximize damage" as it not only works but streamlines experience to the point you can run pretty much through whole Nightmare difficulty on AI tactics. Also not shaming anyone. Was there and struggled too. But since then I put that into spreadsheets and deciphered DAO combat system to the point that I'm bullying it with whatever I want (for example my last run was Shield Rogue which is secretly awesome).

[@xandara75]

@@Sanvone His problem wasn't actually that he struggled, his problem was refusing to micromanage and then picking 3 mages for his party. The class that needs most micromanaging (except maybe backstab rogues). If he would have had a warrior with the taunting passives and taunt skill he would have had a lot less trouble with control. And would have actually been able to focus on doing dmg.

[@zGamerGodz]

You managed to explain the difference between marvel and DAOs jokey dialogue fantastically. Its been infuriating seeing people argue that DAO has the same marvel type dialogue and me personally not being able to explain it well enough to someone who doesnt intuitively understand theres a clear difference.

[@Babadui]

Yea, the morons defending Veilguard like that are some of the wimpiest straw men I have ever seen on the internet.

[@23Scadu]

I don't know, I still think Alistair's joking is extremely Whedonesque. Not surprising, as it was popular and not completely hackneyed at the time. It never gets as bad as "they fly now", but it did grate on me in this video.

[@dominika3762]

The beauty is, while Alistair is a necessary companion (can't get rid of him like with Zevran), you can minimise it by not taking him with you and not talking in camp. Although personally I like him very much

[@MsIvalane]

@@23Scadu David Gaider is busy writing threads on bsky about Origins characters, and apparently Alistair was deliberately written (according to Gaider) to be *very* Whedonesque.

[@declancampbell1277]

@@23Scadu i do think alistair can be very silly and quippy, but more in the style of iron man 1 rather than modern marvel. The STYLE of humour is identical, but the quality of the writing and humour is far better in the earlier marvel movies.

[@hankdedalus]

Watching this confirmed something that I said to some friends. "BG3 reminds me a lot of older dragon age." It seems I was more on point then I would have ever known.

[@Peptuck]

BG3 is basically "What if Dragon Age Origins and Divinity Original Sin had a baby." A beautiful, beautiful baby.

[@arempy5836]

You mean BG3 is like DA:O i.e. the game that's like BG2? Wow.

[@KasumiRINA]

Dragon Age Origins was SUPPOSED to be Baldur's Gate 3 in everything but name, but its simplified class system and MMO-like combat made it more of its own thing. I'm glad Larian got to continue the franchise, now we have TWO epic fantasy series that are more theme part than sandbox like Elder Scrolls.

[@asdergold1]

Shame that they had to make it gay.

[@thesidneychan]

​@@asdergold1 Dragon Age Origins was already gay to begin with. Same with Knights of the Old Republic. Are you new to these games?

[@joaoCouto-t6s]

Hi! I found your video/channel after looking up information about the 4th Dragon Age. It hit me with such nostalgia... It's been about 10 years since I played it (I finished it two or three times back then, with different races), and indeed, some parts you mentioned were really tedious. But the sense of completeness that the adventure in Ferelden gave me still marks this game as one of my favorites. What's funny tho is that, for me, the final political arc and the adventure in Orzammar were among my favorites (playing as a dwarf prince helps I guess). Also, I also played on casual, but I do remember finding the battles pretty easy (I think my team was more balanced, not sure), which allowed me to focus a lot more on the lore. I hope this game warmed your heart as it did with mine and remains in your memory as a cherished moment.

[@Barnesofthenorth]

Honestly humour in a dark story is nigh on essential as it balances things out so well, books I'm reading at the moment have some super dark moments but also have great little funny moments between characters, like 1 I just read where a 1 mercenary is mocking another for the small fish he caught, which ends with. "That thing was probably dead when you caught it" "No, I smashed it between the eyes with a rock!" "Must have been a small rock" "For that you can't have any!" "And for that I bless you"

[@seleckcka7104]

This reminds me of the Enwor series by Wolfgang Hohlbein. It went like "Things are bad" "And now they are worse" "And now we killed the one nice person" "Also it is all the main characters fault" "Lol the world is ending" Like dude chill. Things can be dark without being an endless cycle of "and now things are even worse" without any breaks. It was such a slog to read through the books. No clue why I didn´t just stop halfway through.

[@Barnesofthenorth]

@seleckcka7104 exactly, books that are just dark are a complete slog, add humour though and it helps balance out the misery without removing it's impact as long as it's done at the right times. It can even enhance it.

[@BarokaiRein]

Warhammer Gotrek and Felix books display the absolute requirement for some form of humour in dark stories very well. Grimdark is synonymous with gallows humour.

[@mothbreeder641]

The problem is the Marvelization of everything and the need for constant quips at all times taking you out of anything that's supposed to be serious.

[@80krauser]

Cailan's reaction to a city elf explaining her origin story is just great.

[@BinnyBongBaron_AoE]

Your following sure has grown since those early days. Glad to have been here for the ride

[@BigManBazz]

Dragon Age Origins is one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Brilliant story, nuanced and interesting characters while also having a variety of choices to make which genuinely had an impact on the game world and had you questioning your morals. It was incredible and it pains me to see Bioware being a literal shell of what is once was. Teenage me would be so disappointed to see what has happened to both Mass Effect and DA.